Pages

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Greetings all. It's been ages...two months, actually, since I last posted. Life intervenes, as they say. Any news? you ask. Yes, in fact, there is. Good news. New Island will publish the follow up to Peeler, titled Irregulars, in February 2013. I'm delighted, to say the least, and am confident New Island will do as fantastic a job publishing Irregulars as Mercier did with Peeler.

Irregulars is set during the Civil War in 1922 and deals with the search for the missing son of one of Monto's most powerful brothel owners while Free State and Republican death squads stalk the streets and back lanes of Dublin. Sean O'Keefe, recently demobbed from the RIC is hired to find the boy amid the tumult and terror of a country at war with itself. Much like Peeler, I used an actual crime--war crime?--I discovered in my research as the basis for Irregulars. More on this anon...

Free State soldiers during Civil War raid house in Dublin

Anyone wanting to read up on the Civil War in Ireland should head over to The Irish Story website and take a gander at John Dorney's The Irish Civil War--A Brief Overview. A short, brilliant, objective account of the conflict. While there, have a read of some of the more comprehensive pieces on the Civil War as well. Cheers!

Author Info

Kevin McCarthy is the author of the highly acclaimed historical crime novel, 'Peeler' (Mercier Press, 2010). Called a '...dark, brooding, morally complex masterpiece...' by the Belfast Telegraph, 'Peeler' was selected by the Irish Times as one of its Top Ten Thrillers of 2010 and as a Read of the Year 2010 by the Philadelphia Inquirer. His short story "Twenty-five and Out" appears in 'Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century'. Kevin's second novel, 'Irregulars', is published by New Island Books and was shortlisted for the Ireland AM Crime Fiction Book of the Year 2013. He is represented by Jonathan Williams Literary Agency.

Buy Irregulars Here

"It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a strong interest in Irish history – McCarthy writes such an involving, oft-times harsh story that lack of knowledge neither intrudes nor undermines the enjoyment. The contextual mood seems realistic for the times that are portrayed. Depression and disappointment, poverty, prostitution... No pretty pictures are painted and Irregulars is all the better for it."--Tony Clayton-Lea, SUNDAY TIMES

Buy Peeler Here

'the energetic, passionate voices evident in this wonderful collection suggest that this is a challenge Irish crime writers, the trawlers and scribes of our mean streets, might well have the talent to meet'--Irish Times